Jan 20 Monday (St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr,
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-fabian/ and
St Sebastian, Martyr)
Mk 2:18-22: 18 Now John’s disciples and the
Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, “Why do John’s
disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not
fast?”
19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom
is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20 The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then
they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old
garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a
worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does,
the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but
new wine is for fresh skins.” USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/rLDXFfT0tzI?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DAFrAB3rgpm4xC_YNYqc0xt
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’
reply to the question (raised, perhaps by some Pharisees), of why Jesus’
disciples ate and drank, while they (John the Baptist’s disciples), and the
Pharisees fasted and prayed. Prayer, fasting and alms giving were three cardinal
“good deeds” of Jewish religious life.
Jesus’ reply: Jesus responded to their sincere question
using three metaphors: the metaphor of the “children of the bridal chamber,”
the metaphor of patching torn cloth, and the metaphor of wineskins. First,
Jesus compared his disciples with the children of the bridal chamber. These
were the selected friends of the bride and groom who feasted in the company of
the bride and groom during a week of honeymoon. Nobody expected them to fast.
Jesus assured the questioners that his disciples would fast when he, the
Bridegroom, was taken away from them. In the same way, we are to welcome both
the joys of Christian life and the crosses it offers us. But Joy is the chief
characteristic of a Christian – joy even in tribulation. Using the comparisons
of the danger of using new, unshrunken cloth to make a patch for an old
garment, or old wine skins to store new, still-fermenting wine, Jesus told the
questioners that they must have more elastic and open minds and larger hearts
to understand and follow his new ideas which were, in many cases, different
from the traditional Jewish teachings.
Life message: 1) We need to be adjustable
Christians with open and elastic minds and hearts. The Holy Spirit, working
actively in the Church and guiding the teaching authority in the Church,
enables the Church to put into practice new visions, new ideas, new adaptations
and new ways of worship in place of old ones. So, we should have the generosity
and good will to follow the teachings of the Church. 2) At the same time, we
need the Old Testament revelations, the New Testament teachings and the Sacred
Tradition of the Church as main sources of our Christian Faith. Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
Jan 21 Tuesday (St. Agnes, Virgin, Martyr)
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-agnes/ :
Mk 2:23-28: 23 As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the
Sabbath, His disciples began to make a path, picking the heads of grain. 24 And
the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the
Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he
was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered
the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the
Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave
it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made
for man, not man for the Sabbath; 28 so the Son of man is lord even of the
Sabbath.” USCCB video reflections:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’
teaching on the purpose of the Sabbath and on its proper observance. This was
his response to a criticism and a silly accusation made by Pharisees against
his disciples. On a Sabbath, to satisfy their hunger, they had plucked ears of
grain from a field, removing the husks by rubbing the grain between their palms
and blowing away the chaff. The Pharisees accused them of violating Sabbath
laws by performing three items of work forbidden on the Sabbath, namely,
harvesting, threshing and winnowing. God Himself, the originator of the Sabbath
(Gn 2:3), ordered the Jewish people to avoid certain kinds of work on this day
(Ex 20:8-11; 21:13; Dt 5:14) to leave them free to give more time to God. As
time went by, the rabbis complicated this Divine precept. By Jesus’ time they
had extended the list to 39 kinds of forbidden work (Navarre Bible
Commentary).
Counterarguments: According to Matthew, Jesus
gives three counterarguments from Holy Scripture defending his apostles. But
Mark gives only one of those arguments. Jesus argues that basic
human needs, like hunger, take precedence over Divine worship and Sabbath
observance. In other words, the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy does not
come before the duty to seek basic sustenance. Jesus cites from Scripture the
example of hungry David and his selected soldiers. They approached Abiathar,
the priest of Nob who gave them for food the “bread of the Presence” which only
the priests were allowed to eat (1 Sm 21:1-6). The bread of the Presence
consisted of twelve loaves or cakes placed each morning on the table in the
sanctuary, as homage to the Lord from the twelve tribes of Israel (cf. Lv
24:5-9). The loaves withdrawn to make room for the fresh ones were reserved to
the priests (Navarre Bible Commentary).
Life message: Like the Jewish Sabbath, the
Christian Sunday is to be 1) a day of rest and refreshment with members of the
family; 2) a day for thanksgiving and the recharging of spiritual batteries
through participation in the Eucharistic celebration (for Catholics); 3) a day
for parents to teach religious faith and Bible to their children; 4) a day to
do works of charity in the neighborhood and in the parish; 5) a day for
socializing with family members, neighbors and fellow-parishioners. Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
Jan 22 Wednesday (Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection
of Unborn Children) : Mk 3:1-6 1 There was a man there with a
withered hand. 2 And they watched him, to see whether he would heal him on the
Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the
withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath
to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And
he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and
said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was
restored. 6 The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the
Herodians against him, how to destroy him. USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/X1O7oMESbr8?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DAFrAB3rgpm4xC_YNYqc0xt
The context: Today’s Gospel describes a
miraculous healing done by Jesus on one Sabbath as a public violation of
Sabbath law to prove that God’s intention for the Sabbath was to do
good and to save life rather than to do evil or to destroy
life.
The incident and the reaction: Ex 20:8 and Dt 5:12
instructed the Jews to keep the Sabbath holy. But the Scribes
and the Pharisees had amplified God’s law on the Sabbath by misinterpreting it
and had made it burdensome for the common people through man-made laws. Jesus
wanted to demonstrate in public the original intention of God in declaring the
Sabbath holy. For Jesus, the Sabbath was a day of rest to be used in adoring
God, learning and teaching His laws and doing good to/for others. Hence, Jesus
took the liberty of granting healing to a man with a withered hand in the local
synagogue immediately after the worship service, thus infuriating the scribes
and the Pharisees.
Life messages: 1) Our Christian Sabbath, that
is, Sunday, observance of participating in the Eucharistic celebration is meant
to recharge our spiritual batteries for doing good to/for others and avoiding
evil. 2) Our Sunday observance is also meant to be an offering of our lives to
God on the altar, to ask God’s pardon and forgiveness for our sins, to present
our needs before the Lord and to participate in the Divine Life by Holy
Communion. 3) It is also a day for us to spend time with the members of the
family and to participate in the activities of our parish and
neighborhood. Fr. Tony(http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
Jan 23 Thursday (St. Vincent of Saragossa, Deacon,
Martyr/ St. Marianne of Moloka’i (Cope), Virgin https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-vincent-of-zaragossa/ v):
Mk 3: 7-12: 7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a
great multitude from Galilee followed; also from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and
Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from about Tyre and Sidon a great
multitude, hearing all that he did, came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to
have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they should crush him; 10
for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch
him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits beheld him, they fell down before him
and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to
make him known. USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/pKOBm_iV3C4?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DAFrAB3rgpm4xC_YNYqc0xt
The context: Today’s Gospel describes how both
Jews and Gentiles from Galilee and all surrounding areas gathered around Jesus
practically every day of his public ministry of preaching and healing. Jesus
preached the Good News of God’s love and demonstrated by his healing ministry
the mercy and compassion of God his Father.
Jesus’ mission was universal, attracting Jews and pagans
alike. He exercised his Divine power of healing, using his human body to
demonstrate to the people that he was both God and man. Jesus instructed the
healed ones not to publicize him as the expected Messiah because he did not
want to bring his public life to a premature end. The ordinary Jews believed
that the expected Messiah would declare himself King of the Jews after
overthrowing the Roman rule. Hence, it was dangerous to let people regard him
as the Messiah.
Life message: 1) Jesus continues to preach the Good
News and heal the sick through his Church and through us his followers. He
welcomes our response to him and calls us to come to him through the
Sacraments, and especially through our participation in the Eucharistic
celebration, with trusting Faith and confident expectation. “The holy human
nature of our Lord is our only route to salvation; it is the essential means we
must use to unite ourselves to God. Thus, we can today approach our Lord by
means of the sacraments, especially and pre-eminently the Eucharist. And
through the sacraments there flows to us, from God, through the human nature of
the Word, a strength which cures those who receive the sacraments with faith
(cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologica”, III, q. 62, a. 5). Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/(L/20
Jan 24 Friday (Francis de Sales, Bishop, Doctor) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-francis-de-sales/ :
Mk 3: 13-19: 13 And he went up on the mountain, and called to him
those whom he desired; and they came to him. 4 And he appointed twelve, to be
with him, and to be sent out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out
demons: 16 Simon whom he surnamed Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John
the brother of James, whom he surnamed Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; 18
Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son
of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who
betrayed him. Then he went home. (& Lk 6: 12-16) USCCB video
reflections: https://youtu.be/kVWuyiL590o?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DAFrAB3rgpm4xC_YNYqc0xt
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives a
short account of the call and mission of the Apostles. Jesus is the first
missionary, sent by His Father with the “Good News” that God his Father is a
loving, merciful and forgiving Father Who wants to save everyone through His Son
Jesus. Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus selects and empowers twelve future
missionaries as Apostles, giving them his own mission along with His power to
heal the sick as proof of the truth of their message, then sending them to
Jewish towns and villages as his heralds.
Special features: Jesus selected very ordinary people, most
of them hard-working fishermen with no social status, learning or political
influence, because he was sure that they would be very effective instruments in
God’s hands. It was a strange mixture of people. Matthew was a hated
tax-collector for a foreign power while Simon the Cananaean was a Zealot and
fanatical nationalist who was determined to destroy Roman rule by any means.
The others were mostly professional fishermen with a lot of good will, patience
and stamina. It was only their admiration and love for Jesus that united them.
Jesus selected them after a night of prayer and gave them his own powers of
healing and exorcism and his own mission of preaching the “Kingdom of God.”
Life message: 1) As Christians we have the same
mission that Jesus entrusted to his Apostles, to proclaim the word of God to
all the world. We fulfill this mission primarily by living out Jesus’ teachings
and by promoting and helping the world-wide missionary activities of the Church
with prayer, moral support and financial aid. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/(L/20
Jan 25 (Mk 16:15-20: 
(The feast of the conversion
St. Paul)
(The feast of the conversion
St. Paul)
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/conversion-of-saint-paul/ Paul,
the “Apostle to the Gentiles” and the greatest missionary of the Apostolic age,
was a Roman citizen by his birth in Tarsus (in Cilicia), and a Jew born to the
tribe of Benjamin. His Hebrew name was Saul. Since he was a Pharisee, Saul was
sent to Jerusalem by his parents to study the Mosaic Law under the great rabbi
Gamaliel. As a student he also learned also the trade of tent-making. He was
present as a consenting observer at the stoning of Stephen. But Saul was
miraculously converted on his way to Damascus to arrest the Christians. After
that, Saul, now called Paul, made several missionary journeys, converted
hundreds of Jews and Gentiles and established Church communities. He wrote 14
epistles. He was arrested and kept in prison for two years in Caesarea and
spent two more years under house arrest in Rome. Finally, he was martyred by
beheading at Tre Fontane in Rome. Today we celebrate the feast of the
conversion St. Paul which revolutionized the history and theology of the early
Church. Saul of Tarsus, because of his zeal for the Jewish law and Jewish
traditions, became the most outrageous enemy of Christ and His teaching, as the
apostles started preaching the Gospel. Saul consented to the martyrdom of
Stephen, watching the cloaks of the stoners. After the martyrdom of the holy
deacon, the priests and magistrates of the Jews raised a violent persecution
against the Christian communities at Jerusalem, and Saul was their fanatical
young leader. By virtue of the authority he had received from the high priest,
he dragged the Christians out of their houses, chained them and thrust them
into prison. In the fury of his zeal, he applied to the high priest and
Sanhedrin for a commission to take up all Jews at Damascus who confessed Jesus
Christ and bring them bound to Jerusalem to be properly punished. He was almost
at the end of his journey to Damascus, when, at about noon, he and his company
were suddenly surrounded by a great light. As Saul fell to the ground, he heard
a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul
answered, “Who are you, Sir?” And the voice said, “I am Jesus,
the one you are persecuting. Now, get up and go into the city, and you will be
told what you must do.” Saul rose and, blind, was led by his
companions into Damascus.
The Lord sent a Damascus disciple named Ananias to heal and instruct Saul. Ananias entered the house and, obeying Jesus’ orders, laid his hands-on Saul and prayed over him so that he might regain his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes. He regained his sight, got up, was baptized and, having eaten, recovered his strength. Saul had realized the truth that Jesus was the mysterious fulfillment of all he had been blindly pursuing. He could easily identify Jesus with Jesus’ followers. He stayed several days in Damascus with Christian disciples and started teaching in the synagogues that Jesus was the promised Messiah and the Son of God. Saul’s conversion into Paul teaches us that we, too, need conversion and the renewal of our lives by a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, which will enable us to bear witness to Christ by exemplary lives. USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/XMVIlTrbe0E?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DAFrAB3rgpm4xC_YNYqc0xt Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/(L/20
The Lord sent a Damascus disciple named Ananias to heal and instruct Saul. Ananias entered the house and, obeying Jesus’ orders, laid his hands-on Saul and prayed over him so that he might regain his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes. He regained his sight, got up, was baptized and, having eaten, recovered his strength. Saul had realized the truth that Jesus was the mysterious fulfillment of all he had been blindly pursuing. He could easily identify Jesus with Jesus’ followers. He stayed several days in Damascus with Christian disciples and started teaching in the synagogues that Jesus was the promised Messiah and the Son of God. Saul’s conversion into Paul teaches us that we, too, need conversion and the renewal of our lives by a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, which will enable us to bear witness to Christ by exemplary lives. USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/XMVIlTrbe0E?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DAFrAB3rgpm4xC_YNYqc0xt Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/(L/20
